1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a board mounted electrical connector, more specifically to a board mounted electrical connector which has particular applicability for a 0.4 mm pitch connector in a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI).
2. Description of Related Art
As is known, input/output (I/O) connectors face competing demands. On the one hand, there is a common desire to provide more dense packing of terminals. On the other hand, there is an increasing desire for the data channels in the I/O connector to function at higher frequencies. These competing desires make it challenging to optimize a connector.
While the general desires are challenging, certain configurations of connectors need to be particularly dense because they are intended to be very small. When the density is reduced below 0.7 mm pitch, for example, the design of the connector becomes challenging and as the pitch is reduced below 0.6 mm, certain methods of mounting the connector (such as the use of thru-holes) becomes more difficult because the vias cannot be positioned close enough. Thus, for very small pitch connectors such as connectors with a 0.4 mm pitch between terminals, surface mount technology basically becomes required. Even with surface mount technology, however, it is difficult to provide a desirable signal transmission between the mating interface and the mounting interface because the proximity of the terminals makes it easy for energy moving through terminals to negatively affect the signals on other terminals (e.g., introduce unwanted noise). Therefore, improvements in the design of connectors suitable for small pitches, such as a 0.4 mm pitch, would be appreciated.